I have a question regarding a message Im getting on the DIC.

Every so often Im seeing a "Service Charging System" message appear for a little bit then go away. I did a search and came across a few threads on this, but wanted some input as mine appears to be a little different than the other posts.

This just started happening a few months back. The car is not a daily driver and mostly drive during the day. I have not experienced this issue during the day; only at night. I do not get a CEL when this occurs.

I've read a few things about other members noticing a wire loose on the starter selenoid or alternator or possibly a blown horn fuse, but from what I checked, the main wire on the back of the alternator is tight and my horn fuse is not busted. My horn; however, appears to have an issue as it is very high pitched. Maybe one of the horns is out, but I would think this wouldn't cause the issue as long as the fuse is still ok.

My volts dont drop on the car. Im getting 14-14.3 while driving when this issue comes up. It seems I only get the message while the car is moving.

I just dont want to waste money on a battery if my volts are ok and if it was a loose wire I would think I would get the "Service Charging System" more frequently; not just at night.

Thanks in advance for any input anyone may provide.

Adam

 

I have the same issue. No battery, horn, fuse, solenoid or alternator problems. I've been told it's a *soft code* and nothing to worry about - caused by gremlins. I keep clearing the code with a code reader, but after about 30 miles it returns intermittently until I clear it again.



I'd love to find out what is actually causing this Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) and get rid of it once and for all.

 

I had the service charging system issue last month,i checked everything and everything looked tight and good at first.however,when i was taking my battery out to have the battery checked i noticed that the negative cable attached to the battery was semi loose.the actual cable was tightened up as much as possible,but it still did not fit snug on the battery terminal..it seemed tight by looking at it and by barely touching it but as soon as i would shake it a little bit it would slide off.it turned out that somehow i had the wrong battery cables on my car???i called the dealership and i had to give them my vin # because apparently different year models may have different cables..i have the correct cables on now and within 2 or 3 days the problem went away and is fine now.check your cables to make sure they are snug on the battery terminals.have your alternator checked also,that seems to be the most common problem..i hope you get that problem fixed because i know how annoying it is to have that code popping up..good luck,STB

 

I've found the battery cables on my '07 did not tighten enough to hold onto the posts properly and have a new cable ready to go on. Although this DIC message isn't happening to me at this time, it did happen in the past when I changed the plugs to NGK's. The noise they caused, was picked up at the horn/sense fuse which caused the PCM to not send the proper commands to the alternator to charge, therefore the charge system fault. When I changed the plugs back to stock, problem went away.

 

Thanks for all the information.

My tuner said he has had this on his C5 and not to worry about it, but it keeps happening and I would like to make sure it's nothing before not worrying about it.

I do have TR6's in the car and have had those in the car for quite awhile, long before this issue has arisen. That's why Im thinking it couldn't be the spark plugs.

I will check the terminals again tonight to see if I can wiggle them around any.

As far as the horn, I think one of the horns might be out, but it's still functioning as normal. Just sounds weird. So the fuse is still ok.

Could one of my horns not functioning be causing this issue?

 

most members find the connection to the starter has corrosion,and need to clean the connection. some find the terminal burnt up and need to replace the solenoid.

-Carl

 

This unfixable problem plus the gas guage issue made me sell my 2007. I tried everything suggested ( new GM alternator, new battery cables, new battery, rerouted post. alt wire, changed plugs back to factory) Nothing worked. Good luck!

 

Bad luck That's too bad but I know what you mean. I haven't figured mine out yet but it just happened I have a electronic Guru that I'm going to show these post to in order to check. I'll let him do his thing I'm sure he'll be able to solve this issue.

 

It turned out that all I need was to let the car run all probable wire connections checked nothing seen and the "service charging system" message hasn't reappeared. I only drive it about once every 3 weeks so the battery must have weakend enough to trigger the message now I'm driving it twice a week, interestingly enough I'm still on my OEM battery 4 years old on the April fools day.
BTW it appear that the message will appear if the battery is low but the gauge indicates its charging 14.5